Lionel CZ Passenger Car Problem

Did you try rotating the floor and see if they line up ?

Doug

trnluvr posted:

Did you try rotating the floor and see if they line up ?

Doug

The floor will only go in one way. But Yes, I did try rotating it around and it didn't line up. 

They don't appear from the photos to be off by much but that could be an illusion. What about the interior light switch - does that need to be re-attached first?  With these older cars I have found that it gets in the way if not installed before you try fixing the frame to the body. 

Hancock52 posted:

They don't appear from the photos to be off by much but that could be an illusion. What about the interior light switch - does that need to be re-attached first?  With these older cars I have found that it gets in the way if not installed before you try fixing the frame to the body. 

I'm not sure. I actually removed the light switch because I always leave the lights on anyway. 

Just tried looking for the manual for these cars to identify the body shell mountings but Lionelsupport.com is not exactly responsive at the moment.

These are aluminum cars and the metal frame is meant to slide into slots in the body shell, right? In your photos, it looks like you are trying to line up the holes not with the body shell but the plastic interior assembly - I can't see the body shell in the photos. In that case, are you sure there were screws in the holes that don't line up? On my 18" aluminum cars, the interior assembly was not always attached at every screw point - legacy of Lionel using K-line tooling. 

Sorry if this is a distraction but reading your original post again and looking at the photos it occurred to me that the problem might be different than I first thought.

Hancock52 posted:

Just tried looking for the manual for these cars to identify the body shell mountings but Lionelsupport.com is not exactly responsive at the moment.

These are aluminum cars and the metal frame is meant to slide into slots in the body shell, right? In your photos, it looks like you are trying to line up the holes not with the body shell but the plastic interior assembly - I can't see the body shell in the photos. In that case, are you sure there were screws in the holes that don't line up? On my 18" aluminum cars, the interior assembly was not always attached at every screw point - legacy of Lionel using K-line tooling. 

Sorry if this is a distraction but reading your original post again and looking at the photos it occurred to me that the problem might be different than I first thought.

Yes these are the aluminum cars. I left the shell off when taking the photos. There were screws in all the holes in the photo. I'd be fine if I could get just one screw on the left side. 

Well, if you have had the plastic interior assembly detached from the metal frame for a while it will distort slightly, or so I have found with these and indeed the older 21" aluminum cars Lionel made. The difference in your photos is not great and I'd just try putting a screw in, even at a slight angle, and seeing if it will catch. 

The replacement part listing for this car appears to show 4 screws for the frame/interior fixing and 4 more to fix the frame to the body:    

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...8e-a86a-4d63e75dd184

Most important is to get the body shell screws at each end to thread though the frame and into the end caps/vestibule assembly of the car. Once that's in place the interior assembly should not budge. 

Hancock52 posted:

Well, if you have had the plastic interior assembly detached from the metal frame for a while it will distort slightly, or so I have found with these and indeed the older 21" aluminum cars Lionel made. The difference in your photos is not great and I'd just try putting a screw in, even at a slight angle, and seeing if it will catch. 

I'll give that a shot. 

Got the screw in. Took a little bit but I got it.